


Summer Fest

by thewriterinpink



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Cuddling, F/F, hand holding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-17
Updated: 2018-07-24
Packaged: 2019-06-11 23:13:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15326499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewriterinpink/pseuds/thewriterinpink
Summary: Short stories written for Amedot Week 2018.Day 1: BeachDay 2: FunlandDay 5: CuddlingDay 7: Anything Goes





	1. Summer Swim

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A skittish Peridot wants to enjoy an Earth summer swim, but needs a small helping hand from Amethyst to get started.

Peridot stood at the edge of the ocean, a small thoughtful frown on her face. She tentatively dipped the tips of her toes in the water before letting her foot fall back into the sand. She did this a few more times before being abruptly interrupted by a loud voice.

 

“Hey, P-dot, what’s up? You going swimming or something?”

 

Peridot as lost in thought as she was jumped at the intrusion to her privacy, stumbling sideways and falling into the soft and coarse sand bellow with a small yet heavy ‘plop’. Laughter from beside her followed her wild display and Peridot spatted out sand, wiggling helplessly and making uproarious sounds. Eventually, she got bored of that and stopped completely, sitting up quietly like nothing had happened. She tilted her head up to look at the gem still stifling giggles beside her.

 

“Oh, Amethyst, hi. I would appreciate it if you didn’t sneak up on me like that. I could have fallen in.”

 

Amethyst smirked, throwing herself down next to Peridot and crossing her legs at the ankle. She leaned back on her hands and looked at her friend teasingly.

 

“You mean fall in the water that doesn’t even go past your ankle if you stepped in it? That water?”

 

“Yes,” Peridot said shortly, feeling a bout of self-conscious energy overtake her. “That is correct.”

 

Apparently sensing Peridot’s anxiousness, Amethyst studied her closely. Her eyes fell down Peridot’s body and Peridot flushed, fighting the urge to cover herself up. She felt suddenly too exposed in front of Amethyst, especially while wearing so little.

 

“Nice bathing suit, Peri. It suits you. But it doesn’t look like it’ll get much use with you sitting in the sand. Unless you’re planning to sunbathe?”

 

Peridot shook her head. She kept her eyes forward, head held high as she explained her predicament. A part of her didn’t want to see Amethyst’s response.

 

“No, that was not the plan, far from it. I wanted to go in the water, but…”

 

“But…?”

 

“…I don’t know how to swim.”

 

“Well, you don’t have to swim, do you? You could just sit in the shallow end, right?”

 

Peridot bit her lip. She knew that, of course, but for some reason every time she tried to put her foot in she’d chicken out. She didn’t know how she could tell Amethyst that. She didn’t want to look like a coward.

 

“I could…” she said slowly, one of her hands digging into the rough texture of the sand, “…but I’m not going to. I suppose I’ll just stay here.”

 

Disappointment hit her then. She really had wanted to experience a hot summer’s swim on Earth, but it wasn’t something she could learn in an hour. She didn’t even know if she  _could_  learn; not on her own anyway.

 

“You’re scared, huh?”

 

Peridot blanched, horrified and embarrassed at being figured out so easily. She sputtered for a response, but a hand landed on her shoulder, silencing her effortlessly. When she found the courage to look up, Amethyst was smiling in understanding and encouragement. The expression relaxed Peridot’s shoulders and she reminded herself that Amethyst was not the type of gem to belittle others. Peridot shouldn’t have doubted her.

 

“Hey, that’s alright. If you want I could go in there with you if it’ll make you feel a little better.”

 

“You’d do that?”

 

“Sure, why wouldn’t I? It’s hot enough for a dip anyway. You had the right idea, Pear.”

 

Relief settled within her small frame and Peridot nodded with a brief but grateful smile.

 

“Thanks, Amethyst. I’d like that.”

 

Amethyst squeezed her shoulder before standing up. She reached her hand down to Peridot and Peridot took it. The warmth of Amethyst’s hand and how their hands fit together made her happy. Unfortunately, it also made her once again embarrassed, though she didn’t know why.

 

When they were both standing, Peridot once again startled, this time by Amethyst’s clothes abruptly turning into a blue two-piece bathing suit, not too dissimilar to Peridot’s own yellow one. Peridot diverted her gaze, clasping her hands together in front of herself tight enough to leave marks against her green skin.

 

“Ah, that’s better! Hey, how do I look?”

 

Peridot fidgeted with her hands, wondering how best to respond to such a question.

 

“Good. You look good.”

 

“Aw, thanks, Peridot. You ready?”

 

Peridot didn’t think she was at all ready. Still, she wasn’t about to have them stand around here after Amethyst had put in the effort to help her. She nodded, following Amethyst once again to the edge of the ocean with the same amount of trepidation as before. She sighed, wondering if she really could do this. It seemed impossible right now.

 

Hands gently disentangled Peridot’s own from each other and Amethyst held them, raising an eyebrow. She nodded toward the water.

 

“We’ll go in together. On the count of three. One?”

 

Peridot swallowed down her fear.

 

“Two,” she answered back.

 

“Three,” they both said. At that, Peridot had no choice but to step into the water with Amethyst. It was warm from the sun above and tickled her legs as they sunk deeper into it. It was just hitting the back of her knees when Amethyst stopped them, still securely holding onto Peridot’s hands.

 

“There. That’s far enough, right?”

 

Peridot took her eyes off Amethyst’s face, the spot she had been stubbornly staring at to calm her nerves, and looked around. The water didn’t seem to be too high, but she did give the rest of the ocean a suspicious look.

 

“How regularly does this beach get high waves? An estimate will suffice.”

 

Amethyst chuckled, shaking her head.

 

“Peridot, I can promise you that you won’t get barrelled down by a giant wave. If one comes, I’ll protect you, alright?”

 

That calmed Peridot, though the logical part of her knew that there was very little Amethyst could actually do against water.

 

“Do you want to sit down? Try and get your bathing suit wet?”

 

“I… think I will. If that’s alright with you.”

 

“Of course it is.”

 

They slowly sat down. The water was now at her arms. Peridot smiled after awhile, happy to have made it this far. The water was nice. Peridot slowly slipped her hands out from Amethyst’s careful grip and waved her hands through the water, an imitation of actual swimming.

 

“I’d like to learn how to swim too. Would you teach me, Amethyst?”

 

Peridot wasn’t looking at Amethyst anymore, too interested in the water, but she still recognized the movement of a shrug as it disturbed the balance of the water.

 

“Sure. I got experience. You wanna learn now?”

 

Peridot shook her head, allowing her distracted gaze to fall back onto Amethyst.

 

“No thank you. I just want to sit here for today. I don’t want to do anything else.”

 

“Fair enough. It’s relaxing just sitting in it, isn’t it?”

 

“Yeah.” Peridot paused. “Can we hold hands again?”

 

“Huh? Oh, yeah, sure.”

 

They found each others hands under the water. With Amethyst’s hands in her own and the company of Amethyst so close to her, Peridot felt like she could accomplish anything. Swimming in the future didn’t seem quite as impossible as it did before.


	2. Sweets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Girlfriend's Amethyst and Peridot eat Funland sweets together

“Okay, Peridot, try this next. It’s caramel popcorn.”

 

Peridot gave a firm nod, taking the offering with unconcealed eagerness as she stuffed the popcorn in her mouth, chewing quickly while savouring the taste. She made a high pitched hum in the back of her throat and sent a thumbs up Amethyst’s way.

 

Amethyst smiled before throwing some into her own mouth, chewing noisily. She patted her girlfriend on the back with her free hand.

 

“I knew you’d like that one! You always like the sweeter stuff.” Amethyst snickered and dryly teased. “Pearl would go nuts if she knew you weren’t eating healthy, Peri.”

Peridot smirked mischievously.

 

“What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her! Anyway… on to the next one!”

 

Peridot bounced impatiently in her seat as Amethyst complied, rummaging in their bag from Funland; a bag filled with nothing but edible treats. Amethyst was pretty certain they’d bought at least one of every available snack. Pearl really would poof them if she found out, if only because of the waste of money on junk like this. Luckily, she wasn’t going to find out.

 

Amethyst pulled out two lollipops with the Funland logo on it, one green and the other purple. She held them out to Peridot, waving them from the tips of her fingers.

 

“Which one~?”

 

Peridot’s eyes quickly snapped from one lollipop to the other, but she didn’t think too hard on it. Without prompting, she reached for the purple one, pulling the wrapping off and sticking it in her mouth. She tried to bite down on it, but Amethyst stopped her.

 

“Hey, if you want it to last you should suck on it, Dot. It’s more satisfying that way.”

 

Peridot looked at her with a scrutinizing and accusing look.

 

“…Is that a dirty joke?”

 

Amethyst snorted before bursting out in laughter. She leaned herself heavily against her chair, wheezing.

 

“Stars, Peridot, every since I taught you about dirty jokes you think everything’s a dirty joke now. I was just trying to be helpful! Honestly!”

 

“Uh huh.” Peridot didn’t look convinced. She kept up a suspicious narrowed eyed look as she licked absently at the lollipop given to her. A constant vigilance, apparently.

 

Amethyst rolled her eyes playfully. She took in the empty wrappers and small bags sitting on the table and gathered them up, heading to the trash can not too far away. When she came back, Peridot was poking curiously at the last treat in the bag. She looked up once Amethyst was near.

 

“What is this? It’s colourful.”

 

“Cotton candy, duh. It’s a classic. It’s pure sugar, girl, but like, fluffy.”

 

Peridot’s eyes grew wide and sparkled. She looked back down at the treat, licking her bottom lip.

 

“I want it.”

 

“Well, I’m certainly not planning to let it go to waste. Let’s dig into it then!”

 

There were three colours within the bag; blue, pink and purple. The purple was on top and Peridot quickly snatched some of it into her hand and into her mouth. She blinked in confusion as the treat dissolved into nothing in her mouth. She took some more and it did the same thing.

 

“Weird.”

 

“Really weird,” Amethyst agreed, pushing some into her own mouth. “Sometimes humans just like to entertain themselves with weird snacks. It’s good for me though! The more food the better! What do you think, Pea-pod?”

 

“I think all that sugar is finally starting to make me sick.”

 

Amethyst paused, turning to look at her. Peridot was frowning and holding her belly, but she thankfully didn’t look too bad. Amethyst placed the tie back on the cotton candy bag and stuffed it away. She rubbed her girlfriend’s back.

 

“I guess you can eat the rest of it later. You’re not used to eating so much like I am after all.”

 

Peridot looked like she wanted to protest, but after some deliberation, she sighed.

 

“Fine. But you have to promise me you’ll leave it for me to consume. I know how you are, Amethyst.”

 

Amethyst gasped in exaggeration and feigned hurt.

 

“What is this? Does my own girlfriend not trust me?”

 

“I trust you,” Peridot said honestly before pointing at Amethyst’s belly. “It’s your stomach I don’t trust.”

 

“Come on,” Amethyst coaxed, wrapping her arm around Peridot and squeezing her to her side. “Even if I did eat it, I’d just buy you another one. A jumbo pack. It’s three sizes this one.”

 

“…It’s okay if you eat it, Amethyst. I don’t mind.”

 

Amethyst laughed, hiding her face in Peridot’s shoulder.

 

“Always the opportunist, aren’t you, Peridot?”

 

Peridot smiled modestly. She slipped from her chair so she could settle closer to her girlfriend, curling on her lap and running a hand through Amethyst’s hair, but she frowned when her hand stuck to the strands of hair. Amethyst stuck her tongue out at her.

 

“Uh oh, Pear. Look’s like you got a case of the sticky hands. Want some help?”

 

Peridot shook her head, brows drawn in concentration as she successfully pulled her hand away. She glanced down at Amethyst apologetically, but Amethyst waved it away before she could say something.

 

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll just clean it later. Right now I just want to enjoy the feeling of a cute girl in my lap. You feel me?”

 

Peridot flushed at the compliment, but she nodded, snuggling closer. Amethyst sighed contently.


	3. Warmth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amethyst has a new reason to enjoy naptime.

Nap time was Amethyst’s favourite time of the day.

 

This, of course, had nothing to do with her new naptime buddy. Not at all. It would be ridiculous to even suggest it.

 

Peridot had taken to napping the same way she’d taken to anything else Earth related; with resistance and complaining until she was actually doing it and suddenly she was coming by to have naps with Amethyst whenever she wanted to.

 

Amethyst wouldn’t be surprised if Peridot memorized some sort of schedule; maybe she knew Amethyst’s internal clock better than Amethyst did because she always seemed to show up just when Amethyst felt like snoozing. She was a little pushy, but that was alright because once they had found the most comfortable place to sleep in Steven’s small house Peridot would curl close, breath slowing and body stilling.

 

Amethyst had no idea if Peridot really slept or if she was faking it, but either way there was no denying that it was cozy sleeping with another small body wrapped around her, small hands curling into Amethyst’s shirt and even smaller puffs of breath against her neck as Peridot nuzzled there. It was easier to fall asleep with all that extra warmth. She had the best naps she had in quite a long while.

 

Unfortunately, as it was prone to be if left for too long that it became commonplace, when Peridot for any reason wasn’t able to show up for naptime, Amethyst found it extremely difficult now to get comfortable and fall asleep. Before, it had seemed so easy; she could fall asleep anywhere, but now it felt impossible. Nowhere was as comfortable as it could be with Peridot.

 

Whenever her mind would supply her with this information, Amethyst would stubbornly push it down, refusing to admit to the attachment. It would be dangerous if she suddenly needed Peridot around so often. Missing her presence was one slippery slope down to something she didn’t want to name. She didn’t know if she ever wanted to name it.

 

Luckily, she didn’t have to think too much about it. Peridot showed up almost every day and quieted the voice in Amethyst’s head clambering for attention. It couldn’t be ignored forever, but Amethyst would certainly try. She really didn’t want their friendship to get messy.

 

For now, snuggling close to go to sleep was all Amethyst would allow. Peridot had learned to fall asleep quickly. Amethyst would wrap her arms around Peridot properly once she knew she had conked out, allowing a content sigh to escape her lips. Once this all had occurred, that was when Amethyst would slowly fall asleep too. To the pressure and the warmth and the soft sounds of Peridot.


	4. Important

A weed.

 

Peridot frowned at it, her hand poised over it, ready to grip it and tear it out of the ground. Her fingers twitched, but she didn’t move, contemplating the weed’s placement.

 

If it stayed it would surely hurt her flowers, but its resilience and willingness to fight on impressed her somehow. It reminded her of someone, but she didn’t know who.

 

“Peridot!” A familiar voice called from behind her. Peridot looked up to find Amethyst waving at her. Something jumped inside her at the sight of the quartz gem. It happened every time she saw Amethyst.

 

Getting over her initial uncertainty, she plucked the weed out from the ground and stood up, waving the weed-filled hand at Amethyst. Amethyst reached her in no time and looked down at the other assortment of weeds she had managed to pull out from her garden.

 

“Wow,” Amethyst commented, “that’s a lot of weeds. Are you certain you’ll get all of them?”

 

“There’s a twenty percent chance I’ll miss some. I’ve found them to be relentless in their attack on my garden. Besides, I think I’m finished for the day.”

 

Amethyst perked up.

 

“Great! Then that means you can come hang out with me! Steven’s out with Connie, and Pearl and Garnet are doing their own things, I guess. It would be pretty great if we could hang out, just the two of us!” Amethyst smiled at her, one of those wide, blinding ones that made Peridot’s innards feel funny and a smile of her own appear without prompting. She was already agreeing before she had heard the whole story.

 

“I’ll just put all this away. I shouldn’t be too long.” Peridot bent down and hefted the weeds in her arms. It was heavier than she had first thought and she stumbled, only to be stopped by a warm body, wide hands coming to rest on her shoulders.

 

“Whoa, Peri, slow down! Wouldn’t want you getting hurt, right?”

 

“R-Right,” she stuttered, glad the weeds were obscuring her face and making it difficult for Amethyst to see her strong blush. That didn’t last for long though and she squeaked softly when half of the weight was lifted off her arms. She blinked, noticing that Amethyst had taken half.

 

“It’s quicker, not to mention  _easier_  if we work together. Come on.”

 

Peridot watched Amethyst’s retreating back in the usual awe she felt when Amethyst did anything she deemed amazing. Amethyst was amazing at everything though so the look popped up on her face often.

 

After a few moments, she followed Amethyst to the scrap bin where the weeds were quickly discarded. Amethyst stretched her limbs with a soft sigh. Peridot watched her from the corner of her eye, observing her shirt ride up to expose a small amount of stomach.

 

“What are we doing today, Amethyst?” Peridot asked, excited to know what her favourite gem might have thought up for fun. Whenever she and Amethyst hung out, there was always new and cool things to experience and discover; there certainly wasn’t any dull moments.

 

Amethyst hummed, pretending to think very hard. Then she snapped her fingers and grabbed Peridot’s wrist, startling Peridot as the two of them started running out of the garden. Peridot would have asked where they were going, but she was too focused on keeping herself from tripping to ask any questions.

 

* * *

 

Not too long after, Peridot found herself surrounded by blankets and pillows. Like a pseudo cave; it was far cozier than a damp cave would be, especially with Amethyst sitting right beside her.

 

Eventually, Peridot’s curious gaze landed back on her friend. She was mildly confused.

 

“What is this?”

 

“It’s a blanket fort, dude! Perfect place to hang, trust me. It’s all comfy and warm too.” Amethyst spread her arms wide before falling back against the blanket underneath them, snuggling into its softness. Peridot, in contrast, gently and carefully laid down beside Amethyst, a small smile fluttering onto her face.

 

“It is quite nice,” she admitted. “Insulating as well. Does it require a secret code to get in?”

 

Amethyst paused and raised her head, looking thoughtful before her expression brightened.

 

“Sure, why not? From this day forth, none shall enter our sacred den unless given the secret code and our express permission.” She hesitated, then leaned forward and cupped a hand near her mouth, speaking inconspicuously. “Uh, what’s the secret code, Peri. Help a girl out.”

 

Peridot thought hard on this. Since this place was now something she shared with just Amethyst, finding the right code name was an important one to her. She studied Amethyst closely and thought about all the ways Amethyst made her feel big, made her feel  _good_. She loved hanging out with Amethyst. She hoped Amethyst felt the same way for her.

 

“Amedot,” Peridot announced, feeling quite proud of herself.

 

Amethyst raised an eyebrow.

 

“Huh? What?”

 

“It’s our names spliced together. An indicator of our special bond. Acknowledging it is the only way to get into the fort.”

 

“Uhhh…” Amethyst scratched behind her head. “I think you’ve got the point of a portmanteau for people mixed up a little bit, but I guess that’s fine. Amedot it is then.”

 

Peridot perked up in pride at her idea being chosen. Now everyone would know how important their relationship was.

 

Now deeply satisfied, Peridot allowed herself to settle comfortably next to Amethyst and enjoy her company, happy to be so close to such an awesome gem.


End file.
